Aidan Lee's Poetic Devices

Rhyme

E.g. Hat, Cat, Brat, Fat, Mat, Sat

Alliteration

E.g. 

1. Mike’s microphone made much music.
2. Nick’s nephew needed new notebooks now not never.
3. Orson’s owl out-performed ostriches.
4. Peter’s piglet pranced priggishly.
5. Quincy’s quilters quit quilting quickly.
6. Ralph’s reindeer rose rapidly and ran round the room.
7. Sara’s seven sisters slept soundly in sand.
8. Tim’s took tons of tools to make toys for tots.
9. Uncle Uris’ united union uses umbrellas.
10. Vivien’s very vixen-like and vexing.
11. Walter walked wearily while wondering where Wally was.
12. Yarvis yanked you at yoga, and Yvonne yelled.
13. Zachary zeroed in on zoo keep

Onomatopoeia

E.g. Screech, Buzz, Clang, Toot, Bang, Rattle, splash, growl, bam, swoosh, bark

Simile

E.g. 

• This dress is perfect because it fits like a glove.
• They wore jeans, which made me stand out like a sore thumb.
• My love for you is a deep as the ocean.
• I am so thirsty, that my throat is as dry as a bone.
• As bold as brass
• As bright as a button
• As shiny as a new pin
• As cold as ice
• As common as dirt
• A light as a feather

Metaphor

E.g. Stench of Failure, Fade off to sleep, 

Hyperbole

E.g.

• You could have knocked me over with a feather.
• Her brain is the size of a pea.
• He is older than the hills.

Personification

E.g. 

1.  tripped because the curb jumped out in front of me.
2. Time creeps up on you.
3. The news took me by surprise.
4. The fire ran wild.
5. The thunder clapped angrily in the distance.
6. The tornado ran through town without a care.
7. The door protested as it opened slowly.
8. The evil tree was lurking in the shadows.

Symbolism


E.g. Time is money, Life is a roller-coaster, He is a rock, Love is a jewel


Imagery

E.g.  

• Her blue eyes were as bright as the Sun, blue as the sky, but soft as silk.
• The music coursed through us, shaking our bodies as if it came from within us.
• The giant tree was ablaze with the orange, red, and yellow leaves that were beginning to make their decent to the ground.

Free Verse

E.g. 

Samson Agonistes by Milton

But patience is more oft the exercise

Of Saints, the trial of their fortitude,

Making them each his own Deliver,

And Victor over all

That tyranny or fortune can inflict.

Allusion

E.g. 

• He was a real Romeo with the ladies
• Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel